WARNING: Political discussion ahead. Please feel free to skip if you lack the ability to disagree with someone and still embrace them as a friend.
Arizona. That is all I need to say today and you know exactly what I am referring to. Ten years from now that may or may not be the case, however today you can get updates on the tragedy as often as you can hit refresh. But should that be the case?
The first soap box I am going to hop up on is the speed of the news cycle today. In these modern times (for which I am grateful, as I am fond of most advancements in technology,) information can be found instantaneously. It takes mere moments to go from a question about something to a Google result of 100k pages with answers, and that is clearly amazing. Moreover, possibly without knowing Douglas Adams was making an amazing prediction with “The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy.” The worlds knowledge all within the confines of an electronic book? Have you looked at your smart phone recently, the only thing missing is a bright read cover saying “Don’t Panic.”
However, in this day of instant information, the news cycle has become instant as well. Now this instant news cycle has some positive attributes. News is now reported by more people in more ways than ever before. It is often uncensored and unedited as directly from the source. This means that it is harder and harder for any person or group to unilaterally manipulate the raw news information. However, it also means that the information that we are presented with has not been critically analyzed.
Combine this lack of critical analysis with the attempt by the professional news reporters attempting to stay ahead of the story, buy getting response to reports rather than analyzing the reports, and you can very quickly run into “mob mentality” in the intellectual realm along with the physical realm.
A perfect example of this is the Arizona shooting. The factual report was that there was a shooting at Gabby Giffords’ personal appearance, and that the shooter had been stopped at the scene. The shooter was identified as a young man. That becomes where the factual information stopped and reaction and assumptions began. A critical analysis of the situation would lead you to ask, was the shooting politically motivated? So you would then look to see what the Congresswoman’s political leanings were. But you would also have to look to see what the shooter’s political leanings were, not just assume that they were diametrically opposed to the Congresswoman’s. These were the questions I asked myself. But because of the speed of the news cycle when the idea that the shooter was motivated by the Tea Party, or extremist radio, or even the general vitriol was floated all the news sources were more interested in being the first to report it, rather than asking the logical question, is there any evidence that any of those things motivated the shooter?
Unfortunately, now, since the claims were given affect thorough the repeated reporting without questioning, and then the necessity of those blamed for this, outside of the shooter themselves, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to find the answers to what should have been simple questions. Why is it so difficult? Human nature. Once someone takes a stance, even without evidence, then they have a natural tendency to find evidence to support their stance.
If we accept a slower news cycle, and don’t rush to re-post everything that is said that supports what we already believe, THEN we could potentially have some chance of coming to some truth.
NEXT SOAPBOX:
Rep. Robert Brady apparently was intending to purpose legislation to outlaw speech that could be “perceived” as threatening a federal government official. There are so many problems with that, and that type of thinking that I don’t know if I can even outline it all here.
First, there is a standard in the law that threats or words can never be a defense for assault or battery. What that means simply is that it does not matter what anyone says, an individual has the choice to act, and is responsible themselves for that act, regardless of the provocation. That is called personal responsibility. If the person using only language to taunt goes beyond taunting and wanders in to actual threats, then there is legal action that can be taken by the authorities. So too, if that person wanders beyond just taunting and makes libelous statements against you, and there is harm, again there is legal action that can be taken. So, if you take physical action against them, you, not them are liable.
Why is this the case? Because what one person perceives as a threat, or something that might insight violence is very different from one person to another. So there is no line that can be drawn for what is improper in the speech area. However, the act of physically striking out has a very bright line.
MOREOVER, the 1st amendment’s freedom of speech clause has to mean something. It is this freedom of speech that allows the U.S. to survive the pendulum swings of political mood without the necessity of a violent coup.
Wow, I’m tired of talking about this already. Maybe that is why I don’t do a lot of political commentary.
IN CLOSING:
The blame for the Arizona shooting goes directly on the shoulders of the shooter himself. Now if this causes us to look at ourselves and realize that there is a gap in Mental Health treatment, how we parent, what imagery we put out to the world, that is all great. But again, that is not the CAUSE, and that is to be introspective.
STEPPING OFF THE SOAP BOX
Clint
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Zen of Self Realization
E-Readers
I have for several years now been seeing these E-Readers, beginning with the Kindle, which a friend of mine showed me several years ago. I was extremely impressed with the clarity of the screen with its “liquid ink” as they called it back then. I was also impressed with the amount of material that was available to the Kindle to download, making an entire library, including periodicals and newsprint available anytime, anywhere.
Now you can find a number of readers of every different shape, size, and even color as opposed to the monochrome. They now access the web, and use wi-fi, and some even double as GPS, and if you include the i-pad as an e-reader then function is almost limitless.
I however have yet to see one that I can use effectively. Additionally, I finally believe I have figured out why.
I realized in law school that I read very slowly, however when I read something it stays with me and I have amazing recall of what I have read. A perfect example of this can be seen contrasting my wife and my reading practices. A novel by one of our favorite authors comes out… she reads it in a couple of days, I however take weeks. But, after reading the novel she promptly forgets much, with the exception of the main story lines, and she is happy to read the same novel several times.. In contrast, while I take forever to read it, after reading I have a fairly detailed memory of the story, and I have no interest in reading it again, because there is nothing new.
The other thing I realized in law school was that the reason I may read so slow, and the reason for a notable memory of what I read may be because I have at least somewhat of a photographic memory. What I mean by that is that when I am trying to remember something I have read in a book I can usually remember whether it was on the right or left hand page. Moreover, I can usually remember approximately where on the page what I am referring to (i.e. top, 2nd paragraph toward the right, etc…) Additionally, I often use a memory of if it comes before or after a particular page as I thumb through to locate what I am looking for.
Well, this gets me to my issue with e-readers, and for that matter reading on the computer generally.
I always wondered why I didn’t have the same recall of what I read online in comparison to what I read in a book. I believe this issue is the way my memory works, i.e. quasi-photographically. See when you read on a computer there are no visual markers for the words. The words scroll and can be moved around on the computer screen. For that reason I lose the function of my photographically based memory, because there is not a right and left, top or bottom consistently. In fact changing between a 4:3 screen and a 16:9 screen can have a dramatic effect on where the words appear physically even within the sentence.
The same is true with e-readers. Because most have a single screen with a single image that “flips” like a page rather than scrolling I also loose that photographic function of my memory. (Yes there are a couple of e-readers who have realized that people want the right and left function and have produced readers with two screens.) However, even with that I loose the ability to flip through the book remembering if it was a little bit before this section, or way after this page…etc….
I have seen some potential in some screens developed in the last few years. These screens are about the thickness of 3-5 sheets of paper, but are flexible and can hold an image without power. Now I can imagine an e-reader with 10-20 of these screens double sided so you can actually physically flip through pages, and have all the visual cues that I am used to with a paper and ink book.
Obviously I have no scientific proof for the reason I don’t like e-readers. And I really wish I could read on them, as I am an avid reader, love to sit down with a good book, and find myself very envious of those who can read on the readers. But at least I now think I have the reason I can’t.
Clint
I have for several years now been seeing these E-Readers, beginning with the Kindle, which a friend of mine showed me several years ago. I was extremely impressed with the clarity of the screen with its “liquid ink” as they called it back then. I was also impressed with the amount of material that was available to the Kindle to download, making an entire library, including periodicals and newsprint available anytime, anywhere.
Now you can find a number of readers of every different shape, size, and even color as opposed to the monochrome. They now access the web, and use wi-fi, and some even double as GPS, and if you include the i-pad as an e-reader then function is almost limitless.
I however have yet to see one that I can use effectively. Additionally, I finally believe I have figured out why.
I realized in law school that I read very slowly, however when I read something it stays with me and I have amazing recall of what I have read. A perfect example of this can be seen contrasting my wife and my reading practices. A novel by one of our favorite authors comes out… she reads it in a couple of days, I however take weeks. But, after reading the novel she promptly forgets much, with the exception of the main story lines, and she is happy to read the same novel several times.. In contrast, while I take forever to read it, after reading I have a fairly detailed memory of the story, and I have no interest in reading it again, because there is nothing new.
The other thing I realized in law school was that the reason I may read so slow, and the reason for a notable memory of what I read may be because I have at least somewhat of a photographic memory. What I mean by that is that when I am trying to remember something I have read in a book I can usually remember whether it was on the right or left hand page. Moreover, I can usually remember approximately where on the page what I am referring to (i.e. top, 2nd paragraph toward the right, etc…) Additionally, I often use a memory of if it comes before or after a particular page as I thumb through to locate what I am looking for.
Well, this gets me to my issue with e-readers, and for that matter reading on the computer generally.
I always wondered why I didn’t have the same recall of what I read online in comparison to what I read in a book. I believe this issue is the way my memory works, i.e. quasi-photographically. See when you read on a computer there are no visual markers for the words. The words scroll and can be moved around on the computer screen. For that reason I lose the function of my photographically based memory, because there is not a right and left, top or bottom consistently. In fact changing between a 4:3 screen and a 16:9 screen can have a dramatic effect on where the words appear physically even within the sentence.
The same is true with e-readers. Because most have a single screen with a single image that “flips” like a page rather than scrolling I also loose that photographic function of my memory. (Yes there are a couple of e-readers who have realized that people want the right and left function and have produced readers with two screens.) However, even with that I loose the ability to flip through the book remembering if it was a little bit before this section, or way after this page…etc….
I have seen some potential in some screens developed in the last few years. These screens are about the thickness of 3-5 sheets of paper, but are flexible and can hold an image without power. Now I can imagine an e-reader with 10-20 of these screens double sided so you can actually physically flip through pages, and have all the visual cues that I am used to with a paper and ink book.
Obviously I have no scientific proof for the reason I don’t like e-readers. And I really wish I could read on them, as I am an avid reader, love to sit down with a good book, and find myself very envious of those who can read on the readers. But at least I now think I have the reason I can’t.
Clint
The Zen of Saving Money
Wow, it has been quite a month and a half since my last posting. There is so much to talk about, however, much of it is response to the instant news cycle. I believe that the instant news cycle has been an extreme detriment to true knowledge, as it tends to be just response (sometime knee jerk) reaction. So, I will not be commenting on the latest tragedy in Arizona. Too much has been said by too many too quickly to even have a clue what they are talking about. Speculation has taken the place of information from news sources. I may however speak to the larger issues that the Arizona tragedy brought up, but for those who have no interest in my political ranting I will reserve that for another post which will be titled accordingly so you may ignore it if you so choose.
On to the subject of the title of my post….Saving Money.
I like so many others saw the TLC show “Extreme Couponing” and was fascinated by the savings those folks were getting with coupons. I was however, not interested in "stockpiling." So, I looked up the website 918couponqueen.com, knowing that the information would be more local, and I could focus on the things I buy anyway.
So, last Sunday I started clipping. I had been saying that I needed to find a hobby that I could do while watching TV to make more effective use of my time. So that is when I clip and organize.
Luckily my wife watched the show with me so she is all for doing this if it saves our budget some. So, for that reason when I find a coupon online that is good I am able to register both her and I for said coupons and double up on the number of items I can save on.
To give an idea of where I came from.... There are 7 adults and 1 child in my household. I usually shop at Sam's once a month and try to stock up for the month on non-perishables (and some fresh stuff that will last.) Then for regularly purchased items (milk, bread, etc...) it was to Reasor’s and/or Walgreens I go. My average monthly expense for food w/o including any of our meals out is about $400-$600.
So last night we did our monthly big shopping trip, with our coupons.
We started at Target. I had received a baby catalogue from them earlier in the week which had a coupon for a $20 gift card if you created a registry (which is free to create by the way...) It just so happens we are expecting another grandchild, so we did that and got our $20. Then, thanks to the matchup provided by Brandi M I was able to pull coupons from my minimal collection and printed online and purchased Kashi cereal, Lean Cuisine meals, and Yoplait yogurt. And thanks to another poster I got my FREE Halls cough drops.
TARGET: Original Sale Prices = $68 ish
Cash after coupon and gift card = $9
Then we headed out to Reasor’s to stock up using our coupons combined with the 10 for $10 sale. Now here we also had to get a number of items that we did not have coupons for, after all we were stocking up for the month. However, we did get an entire dinning room table FULL of items, and I truly believe with the exception of things like milk, bread ect... everything we need for the month, and some stocking up on items that were extremely cheep.
REASORS: Original Sale Prices = $221
Cash after coupons = $173
TOTAL SAVINGS BASED ON COUPONS = $107
TOTAL SAVINGS BY COMBINING COUPONS AND SALES = $200-300
Yea, I'll never be doing my big shopping trips without my coupons again.
Clint
On to the subject of the title of my post….Saving Money.
I like so many others saw the TLC show “Extreme Couponing” and was fascinated by the savings those folks were getting with coupons. I was however, not interested in "stockpiling." So, I looked up the website 918couponqueen.com, knowing that the information would be more local, and I could focus on the things I buy anyway.
So, last Sunday I started clipping. I had been saying that I needed to find a hobby that I could do while watching TV to make more effective use of my time. So that is when I clip and organize.
Luckily my wife watched the show with me so she is all for doing this if it saves our budget some. So, for that reason when I find a coupon online that is good I am able to register both her and I for said coupons and double up on the number of items I can save on.
To give an idea of where I came from.... There are 7 adults and 1 child in my household. I usually shop at Sam's once a month and try to stock up for the month on non-perishables (and some fresh stuff that will last.) Then for regularly purchased items (milk, bread, etc...) it was to Reasor’s and/or Walgreens I go. My average monthly expense for food w/o including any of our meals out is about $400-$600.
So last night we did our monthly big shopping trip, with our coupons.
We started at Target. I had received a baby catalogue from them earlier in the week which had a coupon for a $20 gift card if you created a registry (which is free to create by the way...) It just so happens we are expecting another grandchild, so we did that and got our $20. Then, thanks to the matchup provided by Brandi M I was able to pull coupons from my minimal collection and printed online and purchased Kashi cereal, Lean Cuisine meals, and Yoplait yogurt. And thanks to another poster I got my FREE Halls cough drops.
TARGET: Original Sale Prices = $68 ish
Cash after coupon and gift card = $9
Then we headed out to Reasor’s to stock up using our coupons combined with the 10 for $10 sale. Now here we also had to get a number of items that we did not have coupons for, after all we were stocking up for the month. However, we did get an entire dinning room table FULL of items, and I truly believe with the exception of things like milk, bread ect... everything we need for the month, and some stocking up on items that were extremely cheep.
REASORS: Original Sale Prices = $221
Cash after coupons = $173
TOTAL SAVINGS BASED ON COUPONS = $107
TOTAL SAVINGS BY COMBINING COUPONS AND SALES = $200-300
Yea, I'll never be doing my big shopping trips without my coupons again.
Clint
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